Pick Top Stocks For 2019, Best Stocks For 2019

Tag Archives: SHOP

There are ton of high-growth stocks out there. Everyone talks about the FANGs all the time. There are also all the hyper-growth Chinese internet stocks, the class of digital retailers which are riding e-commerce tailwinds to super-charged growth rates, all those big-growth cloud companies and a ton more.

In sum, there are a bunch of high-growth stocks in the stock market. But not all of them are stocks you should buy. And not all of them are stocks you should buy here and now.

After all, when it comes to the stock market, timing is everything.

With that in mind, here’s a list of four high-growth stocks which could be big winners in July.

Hot Cheap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Shopify Inc.(SHOP)

Much like Alibaba and iRobot, Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP) is a secular growth stock which has hit a rough patch recently.

At its core, Shopify is a company which provides omni-commerce solutions for retailers of all sizes. Namely, this involves providing uniform sales capability across multiple digital retail channels (social media, website, mobile, etc) to both digital retail entrepreneurs and huge enterprises. This business model falls in the overlap of two mega-trends (e-commerce and decentralization), and as such, Shopify’s growth has been huge and the stock has been a big winner.

But Shopify stock has dropped off its highs recently due to legislation. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court recently ruled that states have the constitutional power to require collection of sales taxes from digital retailers. Many market watchers view this is a big negative for all of e-commerce, since it means higher prices will now get passed onto consumers. That could slow down the e-commerce revolution, and investors are selling Shopify stock as a result.

But that won’t happen. E-commerce’s benefits are multi-faceted, and stretch far beyond low prices. Namely, e-commerce offers a wide array of convenience benefits which are ultimately unaffected by the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Meanwhile, Shopify also thrives due to its exposure to the decentralization megatrend. That megatrend is hardly affected by recent legislation.

Overall, then, the robust Shopify growth narrative which includes powering the e-commerce and decentralization mega-trends remains largely in tact. Consequently, Shopify stock could have a huge bounce-back in July as negative sentiment from the Supreme Court ruling normalizes.

Hot Cheap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Uniti Group Inc.(UNIT)

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) focuses on a different type of real estate than most real estate stocks. Specifically, the REIT focuses on communications infrastructure. Uniti’s portfolio consists of fiber networks, towers and other infrastructure related to telecom. The company operates both in the United States and Latin America.

The customer base for such REITs usually consists of the country’s largest telecom providers. In UNIT’s case, their primary customer has been the struggling firm Windstream Holdings (NASDAQ:WIN), from whom UNIT stock spun off. At its peak, WIN accounted for 65% of Uniti’s revenue. As WIN heads toward a possible bankruptcy, UNIT has moved away from the troubled telecom company.

Though the relationship with WIN exposes UNIT investors to possible perils, one developing phenomenon could make it worth the risk — 5G. The major telecom companies will each spend tens of billions of dollars over the next few years to build 5G telecom networks. 5G will increase speeds exponentially. Consequently, this will increase the demand for towers, small cells and fiber networks. This need for more infrastructure will be a boon to telecom REITs.

The current annual dividend stands at $2.40 per share, which brings the yield to about 11.8%. Analysts predict earnings per share (EPS) of $2.51 for 2018. Hence, the dividend should sustain itself despite the issues with Windstream. Stock appreciation also remains a possibility. At just above $20 per share, it trades approximately in the middle of its 52-week range. UNIT stock traded as high as $32.73 per share in 2016.

It could reach that high and beyond with the increasing demand for telecom real estate. Increased demand would also increase profits, creating a virtuous cycle that also takes the dividend higher. For those that can stomach the risks associated with Windstream, UNIT stock could profit investors on both income and growth.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) is my pick from the healthcare sector. Up 34% YTD through July 2 compared to 12% for its medical instrument peers, it has managed to deliver an annualized total return of 44% over the past three years, 2.5 times the return of its peers.

I first recommended ISRG in March 2013. I reaffirmed my recommendation four months later despite it falling by 13% on concerns the company’s da Vinci robotic surgical systems — which cost in the millions to purchase — would no longer be a spending priority for hospitals looking to cut costs under Obamacare.

I wasn’t buying the word on the street feeling surgeons would continue to clamor for their use and hospitals would comply. Since 2013, revenues have grown by 38% to $3.1 billion, while non-GAAP net income has increased by 56% over the same period to $1.05 billion from $671 million.

In May, Intuitive Surgical announced that the FDA approved its da Vinci SP robotic system for use in single-incision urological procedures.

Shipments of the new product will begin in Q3 2018, providing another growth vehicle for ISRG, the leaders in medical technology for minimally invasive procedures.

I don’t see Intuitive Surgical slowing down anytime soon.

Hot Cheap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: iRobot Corporation(IRBT)

For all intents and purposes, iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ:IRBT) is the face of the global consumer robotics revolution.

iRobot is most famous for its robotic vacuum cleaner, but it also makes other household robots, such as a robotic pool cleaner and robotic mop. It is also rumored that the company is going to extend its product portfolio to soon include other robots, such as a robotic lawnmower.

From this perspective, iRobot is much more than just the company behind robotic vacuum cleaners. They are a company leading a household consumer robotics revolution which has a wide array of applications.

IRBT stock, though, doesn’t always act like this is the case. Over the past two quarters, IRBT stock has dropped like a rock because management has provided weak profit guides. But those weak profit guides are a direct result of the company investing into new products, which grow the company’s addressable market and add firepower to the long-term growth narrative.

Overall, then, such margin concerns are unnecessarily short sighted. It seems the market is starting to realize this, and IRBT has been bouncing back lately.

Second quarter earnings are due at the end of the month. Those number should be quite good as Google Trends for iRobot have remained quite favorable. Those strong numbers should affirm the recent bounce in IRBT stock, and send this stock back to all-time highs.

Hot Cheap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: NutriSystem Inc(NTRI)

Like Weight Watchers, NutriSystem reported stronger-than-expected results. NutriSystem also raised its fiscal 2018 earnings per share guidance to $2.04-$2.14 from $1.99-$2.09 and increased its full-year top-line outlook to $693 million-$708 million from its previous guidance of $685 million-$705 million.

NutriSystem has rallied around 30% since it reported its results, but NTRI stock is still trading at a low forward price-to-earnings ratio of around 16.

NutriSystem appears to be developing innovative new marketing segmentation strategies and potent new products. For example, the company has launched ads targeting diabetes patients and later this year, responding to demand it identified among its customer base, will begin targeting vitamin users with a new line of vitamin pack products.

Additionally, NutriSystem says that the engagement with its app is rising and it has identified proven marketing techniques of recapturing former customers who have left the program. Finally, the company recently added 19 new items to its menu, suggesting that it is focused on incorporating additional, innovative, popular foods to its offerings.

In my experience, companies that innovate frequently and significantly are much more likely to succeed than those that largely stay with the status quo. Judging by Nutrisystem’s results, the company’s significant, frequent changes on the product and marketing fronts appear to be working. These effective adaptations make NutriSystem stock very attractive.

Finally, the revenue generated by NutriSystem’s South Beach line jumped 150% year-over-year in the first quarter, suggesting that the line’s popularity is rapidly increasing.

As a rule of thumb, I try to stay away from the sub-$5 category when it comes to cheap stocks.

After all, companies don’t go public with a share price below $5. Thus, if a stock is trading below $5, that means investors have sold it off to be below $5. That usually means there is something really wrong with the underlying growth story, the valuation, or both.

For this reason, finding a winner in the sub-$5 group is like finding a needle in a haystack.

But if you find that needle, you could be looking at huge gains. After all, once upon a time in 2001, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was basically a $5 stock.

I’m not saying you’ll find the next Amazon in the sub-$5 group, but you could find a stock will go up 2-5x or more in a hurry.

Bladex (NYSE:BLX), or Foreign Trade Bank of Latin America, based in Panama City, serves as a special purpose bank. The bank works to facilitate trade and business relationships between Latin America and the Caribbean. Its commercial sector accounts for most of its activities and generates most of the institution’s income. Its treasury sector handles funding, liquidity, and investment management. Operating in Panama also creates a unique advantage. Since the Republic of Panama uses the United States dollar, it also enjoys the credibility that comes with conducting business in the world’s reserve currency.

BLX remains a stable institution for more reasons than its use of the U.S. dollar, though. This stability extends to the growth (or lack thereof) of revenue and net income levels. After seeing revenue and profit growth in 2014, both revenue and profits had fallen back to 2013 levels by 2017. Growth has stagnated since, and analysts believe that it will not resume until next year.

Hence, dividends remain the compelling reason to invest in BLX stock. While dividend levels saw some fluctuations in past years, the company has held its annual dividend to the $1.54 per share level since 2016. This roughly translates into its 6.1% yield. Moreover, if profit growth predictions hold, consensus 2018 earnings of $2.12 per share should cover the dividend. Also, if the company meets 2019 profit forecasts of $2.46 per share, a dividend increase for 2019 remains a possibility. With the advantages of operating in Panama and the stability of its income, the BLX stock dividend remains a safe bet for a high dividend return.

Top 5 Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Marriott International(MAR)

Source: Shutterstock

I’m not a big traveler but my wife is, and whenever she’s on the road for work she stays at a Marriott International Inc (NYSE:MAR), usually at a Courtyard Marriott when in the U.S. and Delta when in Canada.

She’s excited about the upcoming merger of Marriott Rewards with Starwood’s loyalty program which gives her a greater option of places to stay for work. Traveling as much as she does, it’s essential to have an excellent hotel to return to at night.

Marriott is continuously opening new hotels. Its pipeline is massive. As of the end of the first quarter, it had 465,000 rooms either under construction or soon to be with 49% in North America, 30% in Asia, and the rest in other parts of the world with 82% of them, upscale or above.

Back in 2013, I wrote about its new Moxy brand. It now has ten Moxy Hotels open in the U.S. with another 14 on the way — and that’s just one of its many brands.

Long-term, this is a hotel stock you want to own.

Top 5 Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: UnitedHealth Group Incorporated(UNH)

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) is the largest single health carrier in the United States. It serves more than 85 million people worldwide and is a parent company to six businesses, including UnitedHealthcare — health insurance that offers policies to businesses and individuals, including Medicare and Medicaid policies.

Its other main branch, Optum, administers everything from mental health and substance-abuse programs to mail-order pharmaceuticals.

While many drug store stocks were rocked by the news that Amazon has now entered the pharmacy business, UNH has been relatively undisturbed because of its integrated strategy.

Looking ahead to full-year 2018, the healthcare giant is targeting adjusted earnings between $12.30 and $12.60 per share, which is a 22% to 25% year-over-year increase and up from its previous guidance of $10.55 to $10.85 per share.

Additionally, cash flows from operations are expected to be in a range between $15 billion and $15.5 billion, and UnitedHealth Group is calling for total revenues between $223 billion and $225 billion.

Top 5 Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Adobe Systems Incorporated(ADBE)

Source: Shutterstock

The story at Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) is a faster-growing version of that of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). In both cases, the shift from “on-premise” software to cloud-based offerings hasn’t just been a case of selling the same product in a different medium. Rather, the move to the cloud has opened up new cross-selling and revenue opportunities … and benefited margins as well.

Indeed, Adobe’s fantastic growth story often seems a bit lost in the shuffle in terms of tech coverage, despite a $120 billion market capitalization and hugely impressive performance. In fiscal Q2, revenue rose 24% and EPS jumped an impressive 77% year-over-year. Adobe once again beat analyst estimates; it hasn’t missed consensus on either revenue or EPS since September 2014.

Valuation is a bit of a concern, as Lango pointed out after the fiscal Q2 report. But a 31x forward EPS multiple isn’t that oppressive in the context of recent growth, and a pullback since earnings has brought the valuation in a bit. Investors are still paying up for ADBE, but at least they’re paying up for quality.

Top 5 Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Shopify Inc.(SHOP)

Shopify is an e-commerce platform company that helps businesses of all sizes run their own online store and sell products via social media and through platforms including Amazon.com.

When it comes to growth stocks, it doesn’t get much better than Shopify. About 600,000 merchants are now using its platform, up from 243,000 just two years ago. And in the fourth quarter of 2017, Shopify’s sales were boosted by 71% year over year. The growth has been sparked in part by its ability to bring bigger (read: more lucrative) companies onto its platform. Shopify ended 2017 with 3,600 high-end Plus customers, including huge companies like Cummins and Ford. Shopify Plus customers pay a premium for the company’s services and these sales are helping to boost Shopify’s monthly recurring revenue (MRR). MRR from Shopify Plus now makes up 21% of total sales, up from 17% in the year-ago quarter. But wait, there’s more. Not only are sales booming, but the company’s gross merchandise volume (the value of the transactions processed on its platform) jumped 71% in 2017.

Management expects full-year 2018 sales to be $980 million at the midpoint, which would be a 45% increase from 2017. Similarly, the sales estimate for first-quarter 2018 is $198 million to $202 million, which would be a nearly 57% year-over-year increase at the midpoint.

Shopify’s share price has jumped about 60% over the past year, and while it’s experienced some volatility, there’s likely more room for this company to run. That’s because the online shopping market is still booming and is expected to climb from $385 billion in 2016 to $632 billion by 2020.

Investors should know that Shopify’s shares aren’t cheap and its stock price is likely to see more dips and pops ahead. But this company is quickly building out its own niche in the e-commerce market and has proved that it knows how to add customers both big and small. If Shopify continues at this pace, stable profitability shouldn’t be far behind.

Some companies take a Field of Dreams approach, hoping that if they build, customers will respond. That’s not the case with most energy infrastructure companies. They refuse to put shovels into the ground unless they’ve already received significant customer support in the form of long-term, take-or-pay contracts that guarantee a steady stream of cash flow as soon as an asset enters service.

While those customer commitments were hard to come by over the past few years due to the turbulence in the oil market, energy companies are beginning to grow more optimistic about the future. Because of that, Phillips 66 Partners (NYSE:PSXP) and several other partners were able to secure the necessary commitments to move forward with the Gray Oak Pipeline, which will transport oil out of the fast-growing Permian Basin. That project will enable these companies to generate more income, likely allowing them to boost their already above-average payouts.

Hot Safest Stocks To Watch For 2019: The AES Corporation(AES)

Like most utilities, AES Corp shares have been under pressure for some months in a rising interest rate environment. However, AES has bounced back sharply after hitting 52-week lows in February — the stock is up nearly 14% from the low point, as of this writing, and is yielding a solid 4.6%. If you believe clean and green is the future of energy, this dividend stock deserves your attention right away.

To be fair, AES doesn’t really have a dividend history, as it started paying a dividend only in 2013. However, AES’ annual dividend has tripled in absolute terms since, having grown at a jaw-dropping compound rate of nearly 32% between 2013 and 2017.

Clearly, AES loves rewarding its shareholders with dividends, and there’s more in store: AES is committed to growing its adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow by 8%-10% through 2020.

What excites me more is that AES is in a transformational phase, restructuring its portfolio and cleaning up its balance sheet to unlock greater value from its assets, which are now worth nearly $33 billion. For example, AES raised $1.05 billion in proceeds from the sale of non-core assets, primarily coal-fired plants, in March. The company used the entire proceeds to pare down debt, thereby winning a ratings upgrade to BB+ from credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings.

AES’ aggressive efforts to expand its renewable energy portfolio even as it strengthens its financials make it one of my top utility dividend picks for now.

Hot Safest Stocks To Watch For 2019: Shopify Inc.(SHOP)

Shopify — a platform for merchants to create an e-commerce operation — benefits from both high switching costs and the network effect. As with Axon, those who use Shopify’s platform would be loath to switch away from it. Once a vendor has all of its data hosted on a single site, it’s an enormous headache to migrate all of that data. Equally important, Shopify allows third-party app developers to build services on its platform. Because Shopify has over 500,000 merchants, app developers flock to the site, which makes the platform even more valuable for potential merchants.

Hot Safest Stocks To Watch For 2019: Prudential Financial Inc.(PRU)

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) takes such pride in its rock-solid financial condition that it uses an actual rock — the Rock of Gibraltar — as its corporate symbol. Prudential Financial backs up that claim with a balance sheet that has more cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments than total debt on it. It also claims a debt-to-equity ratio around 0.6 and a current ratio around 1.0 , which are further signs of a solid financial condition.

Despite that incredible stability, Prudential Financial trades at a bargain-basement price. Its shares trade at less than 0.9 times its book value and at a single-digit price-to-earnings ratio whether you consider its trailing earnings or its forward-looking anticipated earnings. With earnings expected to grow by over 10% annualized over the next five years, that’s an incredible bargain for a very solid company.

On top of that value and growth potential, Prudential Financial pays a solid dividend with a 3.4% yield that only represents around 17% of its earnings. Of course, the insurance industry often goes through periods of earnings contractions since the risks they insure aren’t always predictable. Still, with such a reasonable payout ratio and solid balance sheet, investors have a strong chance at both dividend income and growth over time.

Hot Safest Stocks To Watch For 2019: Baldwin & Lyons, Inc.(BWINA)

Baldwin & Lyons Inc (NASDAQ:BWINA,NASDAQ:BWINB) is an under-the-radar insurer focused mostly on the commercial transportation space. FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) is the company’s key customer, part of B&L’s focus on the trucking industry.

BWINB has been a consistent dividend payer over time, even if dividend growth has been relatively muted. But a 4.8% yield is attractive in any market. BWINB also trades at a nice discount to book value: price-book is 0.85x at the moment, near its lowest levels this decade.

Long-term, there is potential disruption from self-driving trucks — though such a risk appears at least a decade off (and those vehicles will not be foolproof). The reliance on FDX raises a risk as well.

But B&L has been an industry specialist since 1930 — and has been through all sorts of changes in its industry. With a cheap price, a rock-solid balance sheet, and a strong dividend, investors can own that expertise at an attractive valuation.